UNIONS AND developers have signed a project labour agreement for the building of the port of Ngqura. The deep-water harbour is being built by the National Ports Authority to serve the neighbouring Coega Industrial Development Zone and the rest of Southern Africa. The agreement seeks to create a stable labour environment during the construction phase of the multi-billion rand deepwater port. Construction of the port commenced last year. It is scheduled to receive the first vessels in 2005. The signing of the port labour agreement follows a Zone labour agreement reached in September 2002 to govern employment conditions and labour relations during the construction of the Coega Industrial Development Zone. Both agreements were facilitated by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), which is responsible for the development of the zone. CDC industrial relations specialist, Papama Jonas, says “the signing of this agreement is an exciting and very significant milestone in the Coega Project labour relations mechanisms because it validates what the ZLA framework set out to achieve for labour relations at the deepwater port of Ngqura." Jonas says every major project that locates in the Coega Project site will have its own specifically developed project labour agreement, which will take its cue from the ZLA. "Labour relations will be standardized, but also specific to each investor or contractor," she says. The agreement includes induction programmes, contracts, dispute resolution and grievance procedures, and standard wage rates.